Management Team
Nasrin R. Khalili, Director
Associate Professor Emerita at Stuart School of Business
Adjunct Faculty at Industrial Technology Management (Illinois Tech)
Brief Bio
Nasrin R. Khalili is associate professor emerita of environmental management at Stuart School of Business. She specializes in the synthesis of industrial catalysts and adsorbents from waste, the design of sustainable supply-chain and operation strategies, and the design and prioritization of industrial sustainability initiatives through application of multi-criteria decision-making models.
Industry Experience Projects
Illinois Smart Grid Innovation Cluster CO-PI. (2010-17). This project seeks to attract and support smart grid innovators in order to enhance market opportunities, accelerate business and product development, create jobs, and advance deployment of a smarter grid. The Regional Innovation Cluster is supported through the United States Small Business Administration as one of 10 regional “Innovative Economies” and identified as the only smart grid-focused innovation cluster in the country.
Pathways to Cleaner Production in the Americas through Integration of Business, Engineering, and Environmental Education; Higher Education for Development, Knowledge, Partnership, Results, Pathways to Cleaner Production, Co-PI. (2012-15). Higher Education for Development, with funding support from the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs supported this grant for three years to promote higher-education partnership aimed at promoting sustainable manufacturing and economic growth in Latin America.
Design of Sustainable Entrepreneurial Economic Development (SEED) Models to Promote Economic Development in Small Towns and Rural Areas, P.I. (2009–2011). The SEED project’s main goal was to explore opportunities and potential for developing regional clusters to drive economic growth and strengthen competitiveness of businesses in small towns.
The Integrated Atmospheric Deposition Network (IADN). This research was established by the United States and Canada for conducting air and precipitation monitoring in the Great Lakes Basin. Illinois Tech is one of the participating sites for data collection.
Development of Strategies for Sustainable Operation and Energy Management in Cook County, Ill., PI/Co-PI (2010–11). This project analyzed energy use practices in Cook County and its suburbs and provided suggestions for designing a management system that could support sustainable use of energy and material conservation throughout Cook County, Illinois.
Design of Water Purification Systems and Implementation Strategy for Low-Income Countries, PI (2005–08) In partnership with Monterrey Tech University, this project resulted in an award-winning system called KlarAqua that could provide clean drinking water to promote both social welfare (health) and prosperity (jobs and economic development opportunities) in developing and developed regions alike.
Sohail Murad
Chair of the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering; Professor of Chemical Engineering
Brief Bio
Sohail Murad’s research interests are in the broad areas of classical and statistical thermodynamics. Current projects include “Zeolite Thin Films as Efficient and Robust Ion Exchange Membranes in Redox Flow Batteries for Renewable Energy Storage,” “A Proof of Concept Study to Demonstrate Tunable Thermal Rectification in Liquids,” “Molecular Modeling of Ion Transport and Separation in Nanochannels,” “Solubility of Gases in Heavy Oils and Alcohols,” and “Separation of Chiral Compounds.”
Industry Experience Projects
The recent focus of Murad’s research has been on using computational molecular modeling to investigate the transport of water, gases, and ions in membranes. The research has important applications in water-desalination technology, advanced batteries, gas separations, and drug delivery.
Water Reclamation District Geothermal Energy Project
AUTHOR
Open book Chapter on Sustainability of Geothermal
Mazin Safar
Director of Industrial Technology Management Program at Illinois Tech College of Computing
Industry Professor, Industrial Technology and Management
Brief Bio
Mazin Safar has been INTM program director since 2010. He has overseen the growth of the INTM program in student population and in the courses offered as well as fostered partnerships with European universities and local community colleges.
Industry Experience
Prior to becoming director, Safar developed and taught INTM’s courses on industrial logistics and inventory control, and taught in other departments at Illinois Tech. He began his higher education career as dean of enrollment management and professor of operations research at East West University, where he also taught courses in production and operations management, management science, economics, corporate finance, the stock market and investment, and project management. His professional experience includes grants administration, institutional research and analysis, financial planning and budgeting, and long-range strategic planning. His industry-related connections include the Association for Operations Management and the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals.